Two weeks after singer Beyonce admittedly lip-synced her rendition of the national anthem at President Obama’s inauguration Jan. 21, we’re pretty sure she didn’t sing all of her performance at the Sunday’s Super Bowl XXXXVII, either.

But this time it didn’t matter much. The performance still was the best Super Bowl halftime show in recent years.

Beyonce at Sunday's Super Bowl

The show was everything that other recent Super Bowl halftimes weren’t: Good (as opposed to Madonna’s embarrassingly bad show last year and The Black Eyed Peas in 2011) and current (as opposed to The Who in 2010).

It certainly was the best since Bruce Springsteen in 2009 and perhaps since Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” in 2004.

Beyonce started with a medley of her hits: "Love on Top," "Crazy in Love," "End of Time" and "Baby Boy," and while she definitely was singing at least some of the vocals, I suspect she wasn’t singing all of them. And on “Baby Boy,” she was definitely singing to her own voice – her vocals continued to be heard well after she took the microphone away from her mouth.

In any case, it all was very entertaining, and fresh – and hit precisely the right chord for the show: Not so cutting-edge so as to baffle the game’s older demographic, but not sold that young viewers scoffed at it.

Beyonce’s reunion with Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams was the highlight. The trio sang "Bootylicious" and "Independent Woman" (which it sang during its 2000 performance at Allentown Fair) and Beyonce’s solo hit “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).”

The whole segment had good vocals an good dancing.

And then Beyonce closed with her solo hit “Halo,” which also was good, but again bore the marks of likely lip-synching, such as bending over so obscure her mouth at the microphone.

But again, it didn’t matter as much as her early controversial performance: This was not an inauguration, but was entertainment. And Beyonce was entertaining.

One person who absolutely didn’t lip-synch at the Super Bowl was Alicia Keys, who sang the national anthem to open the show. It not only was live, but Keys even sang while accompanying herself on piano.

And ironically, it was much better than Beyonce’s pre-recorded version for Obama’s inauguration -- heartfelt and emotional.

Someone else who surely had help with vocals Sunday was the Sandy Hook Elementary School Chorus from Newtown, Conn., who sang “America The Beautiful” with Grammy Award winner Jennifer Hudson. The kids likely were singing along, but without microphones, it decidedly wasn’t their live voices we at home were hearing.

Were we watching the same halftime show? She was terrible! She shook more than she sang, and it was obvious by the giant light up Beyonce faces and the multi-projections of her being her own backup dancer how into herself she is. Madonna's show last year was infinitely better.

Posted By: Me | Feb 4, 2013 9:32:51 AM

Beyonce was horrible. Madonna was amazing! You need to go back and watch them both again.

Posted By: Allan | Feb 4, 2013 9:40:31 AM

Um...Really? You really thought that was a good show?? Over Madonna's show?? Madonna put on a show that involved performers other than herself (I realize Beyonce did as well but those multi-projections were just horrible and tacky) and she did more than just sing every other word and shake her hips.

Posted By: Ray | Feb 4, 2013 10:30:10 AM

Have you recently been treated for insanity?

Posted By: Cheryl | Feb 4, 2013 11:09:26 AM

Ouch- that was one of the worst half-time shows of all time. Beyonce's performance is the exact same no matter what the venue - they could have just shown the video they used during the previews that were promoted all week for her half-time show and it would have been the same. Really bad and very self-indulgient.

Posted By: Mitch | Feb 4, 2013 12:21:00 PM

I thought it was boring also. In fact my husband fell asleep during her show.

Moser has no credibility. He is an awful music reviewer. Really has no clue.

Posted By: Dwirl | Feb 4, 2013 3:40:42 PM

Are you saying it's better because she is a current artist? That seems to be everyone's gripe that last year Madonna wasn't current but she put on a great show as appossed to yesterday's chorus and dancing which was not that good in my opinion.

Posted By: Chilomane | Feb 4, 2013 3:50:34 PM

That's so true! Madonna could barely sing and move on stage..oops, she was not even singing.

Seriously,that was one of the worst. So was the Boss back in 200? You honestly think Beyonce's show was better than the Who or Prince? Madonna was ok but Prince and the Who fantastic! Janet "Ms Jackson if your nasty" with or without the wardrobe malfunction was still better than Beyonce. She didn't sing a note live! Sorry, to each his own but...

Posted By: Andrea | Feb 4, 2013 5:28:07 PM

-YOU- Sir, are an -IDIOT- if believe repeating the word "halo" over and over is entertaining, you need to have your melon examined..... -JERK-

Posted By: jason | Feb 4, 2013 6:16:14 PM

Beyonce was lip synching most/all of the time. Also, the video quality was much too high, lighting mostly excellent, camera work superb, editing great... This looked like a music video because it was! 90% was prerecorded,spliced into an occasional long foggy shot actually captured at the stadium. Beyonce special effected as her own video backup group??? Live??? Come on guys, you've been on the Holideck too long! This is the real universe - there ain't no live backup videos!

This is the best media manipulation job in a long time. Kudos to Beyonce's handlers! For shame on the media critics ignoring the painfully obvious! The televised show was NOT what was seen in the stadium. Remember the "awesome" fireworks at the Bejing Olympics? They were also awesome because they were faked in a studio.

Posted By: David | Feb 4, 2013 9:23:02 PM

Well, we all got our own opinion. The writer must be very young as they are the only ones who could take to tht kind of "so called entertaining". If you took away the special effects, there wouldn't be much left.

Posted By: Frank | Feb 4, 2013 9:50:34 PM

He spoke the TRUTH MADONNA WAS HORRIBLE LAST YEAR IT SEEMED LONGER BECAUSE IT WAS BORINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG AS HELL EVERYONE IS SAYING BEYONCE HALF TIME SHOW IS THE BEST
Beyonce was AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
AND her time flew by so fast because it was going so gooddddddddddddddddddddddd i was like nooooo dont stop where are u going and by the way twitter acted up and the whole internet the whole world felt the same way
BEYONCE TRUMPED MADONNA ASS LIKE IT WAS NOTHING AND 90% OF IT WERE HER ALONE MADONNA HAD 2 USE ALL KIND OF ACTS LAST YEAR TOO CARRY HER SHOW AND IT WAS STILL BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Posted By: suzie | Feb 4, 2013 10:59:11 PM

I HAVE SO MUCH MORE LOVE AND RESPECT FOR THIS WOMAN MADONNA HAS BEEN AROUND LONGER SO SHE IS KNOW MORE BUT BEYONCE.............
WE DID NOT EVEN BREATHE FOR THAT SHOW AND OUR JAWS WAS ON THE FLOOR...
DONT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS ABOUT HER!!!! SHE IS A BEAST AND THE BEST OUT AND IS ONLY GETTING BETTER..........

Posted By: suzie | Feb 4, 2013 11:02:48 PM

Beyonce's show is the worst i ever seen. She do not have any good voice at all.

Posted By: Ana | Feb 4, 2013 11:06:09 PM

The only thing good about beyonce was that she stopped in the end. Granted that it took way too long, but at least she did. Medleys are for songs that actually sound different and good, this was just too long, too boring and incomprehensible, I couldn't understand a word she sang. Too many uhs and ohs, and way over the top. I wonder if the author watched the same show I did...

Posted By: PP | Feb 5, 2013 1:59:07 AM

I thought it was entertaining, it gave me something to laugh at. I would like to see some rock or metal bands grace the stage next year. Some true music!

Posted By: Gina | Feb 5, 2013 6:03:01 AM

It was fine folks, better than Paul McCartney or the who, or Rolling Stones,,,,Beyonce lip synched the star Spangled Banner song at Obama’s Inauguration on Jan. 20th also. If you’re a TRUE Beyonce fan I direct you to the Movie: Cadillac Records, that was a fine singing job, excellent acting also.

Posted By: Don | Feb 6, 2013 12:06:40 PM

I donn't agree at all.. And from reading the previous comments on here, none of us do.. Can we all be wrong? I think not.

Beyonce is indeed talented. That being said let's keep shit real, her performance was definitely not the best. Granted what makes a great performance really depends on what each individual considers entertaining.

I and most people preferred Madonna's because although she doesn't have a better voice, her performance was immaculate in the sense that all of her song choices were so cohesive that although inviting some recent pop stars of today, she was able to transition through them effortlessly..

Madonna's stage, entrance, and finale had everyone who appreciates the beautiful things in life on the edge of their seats. Beyonce's set was all over the place and the whole stadium had to put up with her obnoxious yells and moans.. Madonna had other musicians so that everyone else can truly enjoy the show..

So in the end it depends on what you consider entertaining.. A ratchet sloppy mess? Or Art?

Posted By: lixi212 | Feb 14, 2013 8:45:18 PM

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JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.